Here is the press release from the Baseball Bloggers Alliance announcing the BBA’s selections for the NL an AL starters for the 2011 All Star Game:

BASEBALL BLOGGERS ALLIANCE NAMES 2011 ALL-STARS

Outfielders Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays and Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers led their respective leagues in balloting for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game as conducted by members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and announced today.

Bautista, who has an American League-leading 1.133 OPS to go along with his 24 home runs, was named on 50 ballots, not including one ballot that placed him at third base. Bautista was joined in the outfield by Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees, who received 48 votes, and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox, who tallied 23 votes.

There were few close races in the AL voting by the BBA. The tightest was at third base, where Yankee Alex Rodriguez outpolled Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers 30-16. All other races were decided by at least twenty votes save the nod for starting pitcher. Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander won that 16-6 over Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels, but many bloggers did not designate a specific starter so fewer votes were cast in that category.

Other American League nods were to Tigers catcher Alex Avila, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez of the Boston Red Sox, Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano, and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians. Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz was selected at that position.

Over in the National League, Kemp’s stellar first half–he sits second in batting average, first in home runs, second in RBI and has 21 stolen bases to boot–earned him mention on 54 ballots. Accompanying him in the outfield was Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers and Lance Berkman of the St. Louis Cardinals.

As in the junior circuit, the closest race in the NL was at the hot corner. Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco edged out Chase Headley of the San Diego Padres 21-14, with Atlanta Brave Chipper Jones receiving 10 votes.

The other races were not a contest, as Braves catcher Brian McCann, Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder and second baseman Rickie Weeks, and New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes all won their slots by at least 25 votes.

Starting the contest for the NL was Roy Halladay, who easily outpolled his Philadelphia teammate Cole Hamels for the honor.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in 2009 with the purpose of encouraging collaboration and communication among bloggers from across baseball. As a secondary goal, they vote on various awards throughout the year. In January, they recommended Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven for the Baseball Hall of Fame and in March, they created a new award to honor the top internet writer and then named it after the first recipient, Sports Illustrated’s Joe Posnanski. You can find the BBA at their website or on Facebook. You can follow the Alliance at @baseballblogs on Twitter or via the hashtag #BBBA.

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano was the leading vote-getter in All-Star Game ballots cast by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, outpacing Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria. Cano received a whopping 45 votes, with only Longoria and Texas’s Josh Hamilton also reaching the 35-vote level in the American League. Starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies led the National League with 36 votes.

Cano was the clear choice at second base by the BBA, with only the one vote received by each of Seattle’s Chone Figgins, Texas’s Ian Kinsler, and Boston’s Dustin Pedroia keeping Cano from an unanimous decision. Longoria’s 39 votes outpaced Boston’s Adrian Beltre (with six), with Michael Young of the Texas Rangers a distant third with two votes.

The rest of the American League infield, if selected by the BBA, would feature Minnesota’s Justin Morneau, who just edged out Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera by two votes for the first base nod, and New York Yankees’ captain Derek Jeter at shortstop, as he more comfortably finished ahead of Elvis Andrus of the Rangers and Alex Gonzalez of the Toronto Blue Jays.

While the Rangers were close with many of their infielders, it is in the outfield that they finally break through, as Hamilton led all outfielders with his 35 votes. He would be joined in the outfield by Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford and Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki, who used a late surge to surpass Alex Rios of the Chicago White Sox for the final slot. Texas also would be honored with the designated hitter, as Vladimir Guerrero easily outpolled the Red Sox’s David Ortiz for that position.

The battery for the American League was Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins and David Price of the Rays. Mauer won handily over Boston’s Victor Martinez, while Price got the nod to start over the Mariners’ Cliff Lee.

Races in the National League were a little more competitive.

The closest race was in the middle of the diamond. As of right before the deadline, Philadelphia’s Chase Utley and Atlanta’s Martin Prado were tied with 16 votes apiece. The late votes pushed Utley over the top 19-16.

Other close races included third base, which saw New York’s David Wright take out Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman by four votes and Cincinnati’s Scott Rolen by six, and the last outfield slot. Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers and Andre Ethier were overwhelming picks, receiving 30 votes each, but Chicago’s Marlon Byrd slipped past Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen by two votes in the last surge of voting to take the final position.

Rounding out the National League selections were Colorado catcher Miguel Olivo, St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols and Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez. Jimenez was the overwhelming choice to take the ball for the senior circuit, receiving over 30 more votes than his closest competitor.

All members of the BBA were eligible to make their selections. Bloggers were allowed to vote for either the American League, the National League, or both leagues if they so desired. Ballots were published on the individual blogs as a show of transparency.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in 2009 and numbers 184 blogs covering all major league teams and various other aspects of baseball among its members, as well as blogs and sites that have affiliated as Friends of the BBA. The official website of the BBA is located at www.baseballbloggersalliance.com. The BBA can be found on Twitter by the handle @baseballblogs and by the hashmark #bbba. Members of the BBA may be heard at Blog Talk Radio each Tuesday night with their call-in show, BBA Baseball Talk.

The days watching baseball get tougher and tougher now that our Mets are non-entities but last night I watched what was one of the best baseball games I have seen in years.

Â The Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox hooked up last night in a game that if it were a post season game would be an instant classic. King Felix Hernandez and Mark Buehrle worked fast, threw strikes and neither one gave an inch. King Felix was helped out by great defensive plays by Adrian Beltre and Ichiro and Buehrle had impeccable command, The game went 14 innings until Junior Griffey drove in the game winner with a single to right to give the Mâ€™s a 1-0 win.

I watched part of Peteyâ€™s return and it gave me a big YAWN!!!! I watched the Philly telecast and Tom McCarthy nearly pissed his pants going wild over Petey hitting 91 on the gun. He looked hittable and Iâ€™d bet by his third start heâ€™ll get his tits lit.

Check out Pro Baseball Central tonight at 9PM EDST as Joe McDonald and I talk about the mess that is the NY Mets and what the future of the franchise looks like you can join the conversation as well at (646) 595-4462. If you canâ€™t join us live you can listen on the podcast right here at TEKS or on our Pro Baseball Central site.Â Â

Â

More than Beltran, or Delgado or anyone of the dozen players on the DL The player who is missed the most is Jose Reyes, not just for his bat and glove but for his energy. Love him or hate him you can not deney this lifeless bunch of Mets could use a does of Jose-Jose-Jose.

Tickets

The Mets are looking great this year and The Eddie Kranepool Society
keeps you up to date on the good bad and the ugly. If you are looking for Mets Tickets, you must visit Coast To Coast Tickets for all your ticket needs. CTC carries MLB Tickets as well as some of the best priced Concert Tickets on the web and don't forget they also carry Yankees Tickets.